Seven Checkmates
by mistakendragon815
Summary: A theory about the numbers!


**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the first part of the plot.**

**I was having a thought about the Numbers (As you do) a was like, "WOW, I figured out another solution for the numbers." Yeah, well, tell me what you think anyway.**

The numbers were written everywhere. On his handkerchief, on the desk, on every scrap of note he could find. Every time the sun past over the hospital, he would be at his tiny desk, doing mathematic equations in his head to find the solution for his curse. When he was on the Island and found Libby and the Dharma van, he thought that maybe the curse had been lifted, but all good things must come to an end.

At first he blamed himself. He used the numbers to win the lottery, but the only reason he got the numbers were from Leonard and his constant rambling. He knew the short-sighted man couldn't be blamed though, so every time he thought about laying all his troubles on the smaller man, he would remember that someone else had found the numbers before him, and someone before them. It was like an endless piece of string.

Rocking back on his chair, Hurley pressed his worn pencil to his chin and thought about the numbers once again. It was the only thing that kept him going. He had to solve the numbers. "Damn it." He whispered. Behind him was a small table with a freshly set up chessboard. Hurley looked over his shoulder and to the awaiting man on the couch. "Another game, Mr. Eko?"

The Nigerian man formed his mouth into a small smile and nodded softly. His parted his lips to speak. "You need a rest from your work, Hugo. Please, sit." Hurley did what the man said and sat down on the wooden chair across from him. "I will start, if you don't mind."

Hugo shook his head and gesture with a hand that he could start and watch as Eko shifted his rook to begin. "Can you help me?"

Eko shook his head. "Have you ever thought about doing something simple, rather than using complex equations?" Hurley frowned. He had been using Algebra and his limited knowledge of arithmetic to try and solve the numbers but nothing he used seemed to conclude into something intelligible or sensible. "You know, a great man once said 'To Thales the primary question was not what do we know, but how do we know it'. Do you know who said this?"

Hurley placed his rook in front of Eko's bishop and sighed. "No."

Eko had a gleam in his eye. "His name was Aristotle. Maybe your knowledge of maths is not what is needed to solve the numbers. Try using something you didn't know you knew about."

Hurley groaned and shook his head. Eko's philosophy, whenever it came up, always gave him a headache. But this time, a switch in his brain clicked as he noticed a rogue piece of paper lying flat on the ground. It had all the numbers on it as well as another number; the number 7. Hurley didn't remember ever writing that. Leaning over his chair, he scooped up the paper laid it flat on the table's corner. "Did you do this?"

Eko shook his head. "I did not do that, Hugo."

There was no time to ponder about who wrote what. There was work to be done and Hugo finally knew what to do. Dismissing the chess game for a brief moment, Hugo rushed over to his cells small desk and began to feverishly write out the Numbers and cross them off as he wrote them again on another clean sheet but in a different order.

4 8 15 16 23 42

1 2 3 4 5 6 8

"It's seven, Eko!" Hugo exclaimed excitedly.

"What do you mean?"

"When I crossed out each individual number in ascending order, there are, like, three left over which equal seven. One, four and two." Hugo hurriedly screwed up all the used and wasted papers and stuffed them all into the strangely empty bin.

"Yes, but what is importance of the seven?"

"What do you know about seven?"

In a very calm and sage-like voice, Eko replied, "It is the day that God rested."

Just then, a shadow appeared out of nowhere from the corner of Hugo's eye, making itself noticed as it stepped into the light. "Jeremy!"

"You can call me by my name, Hugo."

"What are you doing…?" Hurley trailed off, remembering that he was playing chess with a dead person so the figure in front of him shouldn't be at all surprising to him. "Do you know anything about this?" He shoved the paper into 'Jeremy's' hand and waited from him to answer.

"Do you know about the cyclic numbers, Hugo?" The man in question shook his head. "If you multiply the number in question by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, the answer will be a cyclic permutation of itself." Seeing the confusion in Hurley's face, he explained in different terms. "It means that when you times a certain number by 2 to 6, the answer will be an alternative version of the number you've multiplied it by. The best known cyclic number is 142,857."

Hugo's eyes widened. "It's the numbers, in the cyclic thing. Dude…" He squinted his eyes shut in thought and reopened them when he felt calm enough to talk. "Why won't they leave me alone?!"

"They're just like a link, Hugo. They're never-ending until you break it." Hugo felt small against his words and wished that he had never played the numbers to win the lottery or better yet, never met Leonard at all. He wished all of this would just go away, and Martha Toomey had provided him the answer so many years ago.

"Do not think like that, Hugo." Mentally, Hurley slapped himself for forgetting that Eko knew what he was thinking about. "In time you will find out about the Numbers, but for now, please come and finish our game."

Hugo reluctantly sat back down on his wooden chair and continued on with his game, unaware that 'Jeremy' had left the room by some unknown means. A sudden crash at his cell door frightened both Eko and Hugo. "Sayid?"

"Hello, Hurley."

Hurley was a little surprised by Sayid's sudden entrance and came up with the best thing that came into mind to try and get him away. "I think visiting hours are over, Dude."

In a stern voice, Sayid reply, "This isn't a visit. I want you to come with me."

"Come with you where?" Something bad was going to happen, Hugo knew it. Eko just looked at Sayid calmly and allowed him to continue.

"Somewhere safe."

"And why would I go anywhere with you? I haven't seen you in, like, forever." Sayid was a trustworthy friend on the Island, but now that they were off the Island and parted ways, Hugo didn't know what to think of the old solider.

"Because circumstances have changed."

"What circumstances?"

"Bentham's dead." That explains why he was in the room just before, Eko contemplated in Hugo's mind.

"What?"

"Two days ago."

"What happened?"

"They said it was suicide."

This was bad. Why would Locke kill himself? Better yet, why did he even leave the Island? "What do you mean, they 'said' it was suicide? And why are you calling him "Bentham"? His name is…"

Sayid hushed him. "Don't say it. We're being watched."

Hurley shook his mass of curly locks. "Dude, I've been having regular conversations with dead people. The last thing I need now is paranoia."

"I just killed a man who's been perched outside this facility for the last week. I'm finding paranoia keeps me alive." Someone had been watching him?

"We're not going back, are we?

"No. Just somewhere safe." Oh, great, thought Hugo. More cryptic messages.

A sudden rustle of clothing to make the wearer know has heard by Hurley to his left. He had gotten so distracted by Sayid that he had forgotten about his little game. His eyes flickered to the chessboard quickly, noticed sharply by Sayid, and turned back to his visitor. "Okay then. Hold on a sec."

Hugo leaned over the table and moved his knight closer to Eko's King. "Checkmate, Mr. Eko."


End file.
